It’s the first show of 2018. We talk about the strange warm weather that melted all the snow and is now causing serious problems for western NL. Some parents were mad that kids got sent to school in bad weather and there’s a new winter parking ban in downtown St. John’s. Two schools in Gander have problems, one smells like crap and the other one has the wrong name. A ton of money is being invested in rural broadband internet and we’re not sure if it’s a good thing, but hopefully brings the North of NL podcast to more people.

More vintage Newfoundland flyers and newspaper material. This look at the early-mid 80s includes some fashions, electronics, movies, vehicles, and entertainment from places like Woolco, Dalfen’s, The Strand, and more.

The previous owners of my house had the basement floor lined with old newspapers. I’ve slowly been getting rid of them and looking at the pages along the way. It’s a great look back in time, with plenty of material from the 80s & 90s mainly. Here are a few pics from the 1998 era featuring some local businesses, radio station contests, and more.

It’s a full house for our Christmas Boxing Day episode. Believe it or not, Joel is the most sensible one of them all tonight, and despite doing his best to keep the show on track, the rest of the crowd is too hammered and destroys any chance of decorum. We say goodbye not knowing if this podcast was hilarious or total garbage. Let us know and Merry Christmas!

We start the episode talking about pointless gifts and fire safety tips to keep your Christmas tree from going up in flames. Seal fur protestors gave a seal store free advertising and Nelly is coming to Mile One. Speaking of rap music, somebody had their laptop stolen by a skeet who likes rap. Another skeet stole gas, or forgot to pay, depending on how you look at it. Newfoundland has secured a good supply of dope, the majority of residents surveyed say they don’t plan to buy any, and we try to figure out what is a reasonable price per gram. Nick loses his mind talking about cyclists, a bunch of people got picked off by taxis, and we wonder if Metrobus is too cheap after comments about the 2018 St. John’s budget.

As of October 2017, Newfoundland officially had its very first Bitcoin ATM, located at The Fifth Ticket Restaurant on Water Street. Newfoundland is the last province in Canada to get one of these machines, unsurprising since, because of the population, we’re always a little behind-the-curve in terms of getting new technologies, or even retail chains and restaurants.

While Bitcoin may not be so common in Newfoundland just yet, it’s extremely popular in other parts of the world. In Japan, over 350,000 establishments accept Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as payment, just like regular money. Millions of people use it for online shopping, paying local merchants, and sending/receiving money.

Joel has retired from not-drinking, so the boys are having a great time. We hear about a conversation at the store about our strong beer, and Nick brought something weird mystery item for Joel to eat and so he’s nervous. Nick tells a story with no punch line, brings in the mystery food, and Joel’s reaction may surprise you. Maple Leaf is too good for balogna and vienna sausages all of a sudden, people are getting stoned at family Christmas events, and we think everybody needs to get back to the real meaning of Christmas: getting drunk with your family and friends. Joel talks about Santa’s unfairness, the Newfoundland English School District screwed over a bunch of helpless children through Operation Christmas Child, and sushi is popular in Labrador. We end with Joel being a news anchor telling us about a baby being born in a parking lot.

Joel tells us about his new exercise ball chair incident, our new All Dress Chips and Bitcoin articles, and we look at one of the many drivers who forgot how to drive when it’s slippery. Can you guess the most binge-watched TV show on Netflix in Canada? (Hint: it’s our favourite show). A Santa Claus photographer in Carbonear flipped out and quit but he may have had a point. We look at a funny Joel & Nick Santa picture, Nick reminds us of his fear of the Happy Tree, and we check out one of the most epic failures of a bank robbery ever. The RCMP don’t know what a skeet is, and refuse to explain a drop in tickets given out this summer. A van creeped a kid out, but then apologized, but it still seems odd.

Although challenging to pick out the specific ingredients or describe the taste, All Dressed is known to be a delicious mashup of popular flavours like Ketchup, BBQ, Sour Cream & Onion, and Salt & Vinegar, along with a blend of spices. Items commonly displayed on All Dressed packaging include a vinegar bottle, garlic, a tomato, a red pepper, and an onion.

In our opinion, Ruffles is the gold standard when it comes to All Dressed. However, since we love spending wisely, we wanted to find out how the other brands compared. Could we find an off-brand All Dressed chip that competes with Ruffles for a better price?

Joel’s not letting himself drink until Christmas, or at least for a week, because he got completely out of hand last time. We tell that story, then move on to look at Newfoundland’s plans for the legalization of marijuana, Jim Lester winning the Mount Pearl North byelection, and Megan House’s dreams of “true love” being shattered as she was sent home from The Bachelor Canada. The newsmaker of the week is the kitchen party put off by some Newfoundlanders while waiting for a plane at the Toronto airport. It went viral and most people thought it was amazing, but not everybody felt that way. People are using harbors in NL as garbage dumps, research confirms the government is incompetent, and power bills are gonna go through the roof. We close out the show looking at the province’s new snow plow and realizing that we’d both chill out more if we were drinking.